Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Sheet: Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response
Sheet: Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response
RCRA Sites
In addition to programs for safety and health, training, medical surveillance, decontamination, new technology and emergency response, employers at RCRA sites also need the following: A written hazard communication program meeting the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.1200. Procedures to effectively control and handle drums and containers.
Emergency Response
Employers must develop an emergency response plan to handle possible on-site emergencies and coordinate off-site response. Rehearsed regularly and reviewed/amended periodically, the plan must address: personnel roles; lines of authority, training and communications; emergency recognition and prevention; site security; evacuation
routes and procedures; decontamination procedures; emergency medical treatment; and emergency alerting procedures. Training is required before employees engage in hazardous waste operations and emergency response.
Training Requirements
Uncontrolled hazardous waste operations 40 hours of initial training; 3 days of actual field experience for regular employees to be certified. 24 hours of initial training; 1 day of supervised field experience for employees visiting the site occasionally. 8 hours of additional waste management training for supervisors and managers. 8 hours of annual refresher training. Treatment, storage and disposal facilities licensed under RCRA 24 hours of training. 8 hours of annual refresher training. Emergency response operations at sites not RCRA licensed or at uncontrolled hazardous waste site clean-ups 1) First responders at the awareness level (witness or discover a hazardous substance release and initiate the emergency response) must demonstrate competency in areas such as recognizing the presence of hazardous materials in an
emergency, the risks involved and the role they play in their employers plan. 2) First responders at the operations level (respond to prevent the spread, exposures to and the further release of hazardous materials) must have 8 hours of training plus awareness level competency. 3) Hazardous materials technicians (respond to stop the release) must have 24 hours of training equal to the operations level and know how to implement the employers plan and carry out decontamination. 4) Hazardous materials specialists (require specific knowledge of the substances to be contained) must have 24 hours of training equal to the technical level and act as liaison with all government authorities. 5) On-scene incident commanders (assume control of the scene) must have 24 hours of training equal to the operations level and demonstrate competence in implementing the incident command system, the employers plan and the state and local emergency response plans. Annual refresher training is required for each level of response. For further information about hazardous waste operations and emergency response, please visit OSHAs Hazardous Waste page at www.osha.gov.
This is one in a series of informational fact sheets highlighting OSHA programs, policies or standards. It does not impose any new compliance requirements. For a comprehensive list of compliance requirements of OSHA standards or regulations, refer to Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations. This information will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. The voice phone is (202) 693-1999; teletypewriter (TTY) number: (877) 889-5627.
Think Safety!
For more complete information:
www.osha.gov
(800) 321-OSHA